Babysitting Adventures
by iknowuknow
Summary: Shawn agrees to watch the Lassiter children for a day. Easy money, right? Not if Logan has anything to say about it.


*ring, ring*

"'Ello?" Shawn answered sleepily.

"Shawn? It's Juliet. I need to ask you a huge favor. Carol, our regular babysitter, had a family emergency come up and had to cancel. Is there any way you could watch Logan and Lilly today? It's a school holiday."

"You want me to babysit?"

"We would pay you, of course."

Shawn sighed, "Okay, Jules, I guess I can do that. I've got Lawson coming already, anyway, and you know Gus is home," he replied, referring to his two-year-old nephew and four-month-old son.

"Perfect," Juliet replied, "I'll drop them off in half an hour."

Shawn settled back in to get a little more sleep, and Juliet woke her kids up.

"Logy, you gotta get up and dressed, baby."

"There's no school today, Mommy," he responded in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Logy, but Carol's brother is sick and she needs to help take care of him. Uncle Shawn is going to babysit you."

"Uncle Shawn? Seriously? Isn't there ANYONE else who could do it?"

Juliet shook her head. "Iris is at a friend's house, and Lawson is at Uncle Shawn's. There's not really any other choice but to get up and get dressed for Uncle Shawn's."

Logan sighed, "Yes, Mommy." He got out of bed to walk to his dresser and pick out his clothes for the day.

Carlton appeared with a sleeping baby girl. "I changed her diaper and got her dressed before she fell back asleep, but this is early for her and she might be crabby."

"Well, Shawn is able to babysit."

"In that case, let's wake her up again," he replied with a smile.

"Carlton!" she playfully scolded, holding back a laugh. Marriage hadn't tamed the savage Shawn. He still annoyed her husband just as much as always.

She accepted her sleeping daughter - clad in a purple onesie and small pale blue sweatpants - and kissed her husband goodbye. He was headed straight to work, and she was dropping the kids off.

"Logan," she called, knocking on the door to the kids' bathroom. He emerged from the sea themed bathroom with his pajamas while wearing his froggy towel. "I just gotta get dressed, Mommy."

He grabbed the clothes he picked out off the dresser, and pulled them on. His jeans were looking a little short, so Juliet made a mental note to take him clothes shopping. She got shoes on the sleeping infant while Logan buttoned up his blue and white shirt. She pulled a tiny blue jacket on Lilly, now awake and quite upset, while Logan tied his blue sneakers. He grabbed his own black coat as they headed out the door.

Lilly fell back asleep in her car seat, while Logan chatted with his mom from the booster seat he sat in.

"Honestly, Mommy, I'm really hoping they never notice. They can all sit in the front seat! It would be super embarrassing."

Juliet nodded, "I understand, baby. You can stop using the booster as soon as you turn six. Usually I'd say four foot nine, but you might have to wait until high school for that, so I'll make an exception."

Logan smiled, "Thanks, Mommy."

Juliet pulled up to Shawn's house, and got Lilly out of her seat carefully.

"Awwww, she is so cute," the next door neighbor cooed. "How old is she?"

"She's almost 9 months. She just started crawling a few weeks ago."

"Aww," the woman replied.

Logan rolled his eyes, "Can we go, Mommy?"

"Who's this little fellow?" she asked in a high voice, looking at Logan now.

"I'm Logan, and I would prefer if you were to move on. It's quite frigid today, and I crave warmth and subsistence."

"Logan, be nice," Juliet scolded.

"Fine. I'm sorry, ma'am, that I don't appreciate being talked to like I'm an idiot." He then turned and ran to Shawn's door.

"Sorry. He's very smart for his age, and very sensitive about how he's treated. Anyway, it was nice meeting you."

The woman mumbled a goodbye and walked back to her house.

When Juliet reached the door, Logan was already inside.

"He's playing with Lawson," Shawn explained.

Juliet shook her head, "He's getting so brash. He acts more and more like Carlton every day."

Shawn laughed, "That's why I call him Lassie Jr," he replied with a wink.

Juliet rolled her eyes, passing the baby over to him. She immediately woke up, crinkled her face, and began to scream.

Juliet took her back and rocked her, "Shh, calm down baby. Just go back to sleep." She turned to Shawn. "I brought her blanket. Is there any place I can lay her down? She didn't sleep well last night."

Shawn nodded, leading her to the nursery. He pointed toward the playpen, "It's got a cushion in it."

Juliet nodded, settling the baby in the playpen. "Hopefully she won't wake up again until she's a little better able to deal with being awake. You can put her down for her naps at around 10 and around 12:30/ 1 o'clock. If Logan gets sleepy then he can sleep, but otherwise just give him a puzzle or a book and he'll stay quiet if you're trying to keep everyone else asleep. I can't think of anything more... Oh! No candy. Logan is only allowed to eat candy he receives from Trick or Treating after it's been screened for razor blades."

"Wow, my father used to do the same thing. Poor kids."

Juliet shook her head and looked at him firmly, "No candy." She turned to walk over to Logan. "I'll be back at 5:30. Be good." She kissed the top of his head, and waved goodbye as she headed out the door.

"You kids hungry?" Shawn asked, looking toward Lawson and Logan.

Both nodded.

"What do you like to eat, Logan?" Shawn asked.

"Corn Flakes," the boy replied.

Shawn frowned, "Well, I don't have any corn flakes. How about Lucky Charms?"

Logan shook his head. "Marshmallows are candy. I can't have candy."

"It will be our little secret," Shawn suggested, looking over his assortment of sugary cereals.

"No it won't," Logan replied, pulling out a cell phone.

"Where'd you get a cell phone?" Shawn asked in surprise.

Logan looked at him like he were an idiot, "I'm in seventh grade; I needed a cell phone."

Shawn just nodded, frowned, and walked toward Lawson to get his breakfast order. Logan walked into the kitchen, climbed up onto the counter, got toaster waffles out of the freezer, and loaded the toaster.

"How'd you do that?" Shawn asked.

Logan laughed, "I've been able to do that since I was _two_, it's not a big thing."

Shawn just sighed, fixing the bowl of Lucky Charms that Lawson had requested.

A few minutes later, a cry sounded from the nursery.

Shawn rushed to check on the babies, while Logan buttered his waffles, placed them at the table, and continued on to carry the bowl of Lucky Charms to the table for Lawson.

Shawn came out holding Gus, and placed him under a toy. A cry still sounded from the nursery, and Logan was on it before Shawn could even turn around. He walked into the room to find his sister stuck in the playpen.

He pulled over a stool from the bathroom, probably meant for Lawson, and climbed into the playpen. Holding his sister, he tipped the playpen so they could get out. He set her down on the floor, and walked back to his waffles. Shawn just watched him, dumbfounded.

"How old are you again, Logan?"

"Five," the boy replied, using the butter knife to cut up the waffle into bite sized pieces, and carefully bring them to his mouth one by one. He also had a napkin in his lap. Lawson seemed to be attempting to copy him, though it only resulted in his napkin falling to the floor.

"Are you sure?" Shawn asked about a minute later.

"No, I lost track," Logan responded sarcastically. "Look, neither one of us wants to be here together. Can we just deal with it? You leave me alone, I'll be polite. Deal?"

Shawn shook his head, "No can do, kid. I have to watch you. I'm getting paid to watch you, so it's important that I actually watch you. That involves not leaving you alone. And I'm the adult, so you should be polite and treat me with respect."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that." He wiped off his face, threw the napkin in the trash, and placed his plate in the sink. "I'll start showing you respect as soon as you start showing _me_ respect."

Shawn rolled his eyes.

"By the way," Logan called behind him, "Lil's hungry, and Gus just pooped. Might want to take care of that."

With a scowl, Shawn turned to do just that.

Logan walked out the door to the backyard, and into the house that shared the backyard. "Hi, Aunt Lauren," he greeted his father's little sister, walking past her photoshoot.

"Hey, Loges," she greeted, snapping another picture of the snotty parents and their bratty kids.

He continued upstairs, stopped at the bookshelf, and picked up one of the books Gus had bought for Logan's visits.

"Huh, _The_ _Hobbit_, haven't read this one."

He took the book and carried it into the crawl space leading to the room his aunt and uncle had furnished as a sort of study, playroom for Lawson and any future kids. Sitting down in his favorite chair, he immersed himself in the book.

Meanwhile, Shawn had finally noticed his disappearance, and began to search his house. "Logan!" he called throughout the house. He finally gave up after an hour, and sat down to think of how to break it to Jules and Lassie.

"My house," Lawson responded, pointing next door.

Shawn pulled out his phone and dialed Lauren's number.

"Shawn, I'm working. I can't talk."

"I just need to know if you've seen Logan."

"Yeah," she replied distractedly, "He's fine. I'll bring him back over when I'm done here. Gotta go."

Shawn stared at the phone, in disbelief that someone actually hung up on him.

At around noon, Lauren showed up with Logan in tow."Sorry it took so long. I had to do family photos for an entire country club."

Shawn nodded in understanding.

"I only had two chapters left," the boy complained to his aunt. "I shoulda been allowed to finish?"

She raised her eyebrows, and his mouth shut immediately.

"Sorry, Aunt Lauren. May I borrow this book?"

"You may," she replied with a smile, "Thank you for approaching the situation correctly."

"How did you do that?" Shawn asked, flabbergasted.

Lauren laughed. "I'm his aunt, Shawn. I've known this kid way longer than you have, and I've certainly spent more time with him. Logan is an easy kid if you treat him right."

Logan nodded behind her. "I told you, if you treat me with respect, then I'll respect you. I'm not a normal five-year-old. I know that's hard to understand, but you're not even trying. I think like a kid more than twice my age."

"Mommy," Lawson yelled, running across the room and hugging her legs. She lifted him up and hugged him. "Hi, baby. I can't stay long."

Shawn sighed, looking at Logan, "Okay, what would you like for lunch?"

"I eat pot pies and fettuccine alfredo."

"I don't have either of those. How about a nice sandwich?"

Logan shook his head, "I only eat sandwiches Daddy makes."

Shawn sighed, slapping his forehead. Lauren laughed, "Loges, I'm sure he has the ingredients to let you prepare something."

Logan smiled, and looked at Shawn. "Do you have a spice rack, spaghetti noodles, tomatoes or tomato sauce, and ground beef?"

Shawn shrugged, "Probably."

"You'll have to carry the noodles to the sink to be strained, but he can do the rest himself. Meanwhile, I have to go," Lauren remarked, looking at her watch. She set Lawson down with a kiss to the head, then looked at her nephew. "Be good, Logan. I mean it."

Logan nodded, "Yes, Aunt Lauren."

He then proceeded to make spaghetti that he, Shawn, _and _Lawson had seconds of.

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" Shawn asked, surprised by his prowess.

"From Daddy."

"Lassie cooks?"

Logan laughed, "Are you serious? He cooks well. Honestly, I've had restaurant food that doesn't measure up."

Shawn smiled, "I'll keep that in mind."

"If you tease him about it, I'll tell him you lost me for an hour."

Shawn shook his head, "Five years old and already blackmailing those he loves."

"Don't push it. I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm far more aware now of what goes on when you and my dad are in the same room, and he doesn't usually initiate it. You're walking on thin ice."

"Thanks for the warning," Shawn replied with a frown, upset that a five year old had any control over him. He went back to feeding Lilly and Gus.

When they finished eating, Lawson, Lilly, and Gus went down for naps. Logan curled up to read the last of his book, then pulled out his phone to call a friend, keeping his voice low so as not to wake anyone.

"Hey, man!" came the answer.

"Hi, Paul," Logan answered him with a smile. "Guess what?"

"What?" the other boy asked.

"I asked my mom, and she said I could have you and James sleep over on Friday."

"No way!" Paul responded, smiling. He had met Paul while they were both in fourth grade. Paul was only a grade behind him having also skipped fifth, and turned ten in two weeks. A whole party had already been planned in his honor, with a Super Mario theme.

James, a third grader who lived down the street from the Lassiters, had become a mutual friend when Logan introduced them.

"I gotta go, Loge. My mom is calling me to go to her stupid sewing club. I'll call you later, 'kay?"

"Okay," Logan agreed, "Bye Paul."

"Bye Logan."

Logan hung up the phone, and Shawn eyed him curiously.

"So," Shawn began, "Lassie Jr _does_ have friends after all."

"Who said I didn't?" Logan asked with a laugh. "I have friends ranging from four to fourteen. I'm actually quite popular."

Shawn eyed him, then sighed as Lawson came bounding out of Shawn's room.

"Done seepin'," the two-year-old told him with a grin, showing off his 17 teeth. "Pay time!"

"I'll play with you, Lawson," Logan told him, getting on his knees to drive cars around with the little boy.

By the time Juliet appeared to take her two home, Lawson was thoroughly satisfied with all the playing he'd done. Logan had taken a little bit of time away from playing to do the homework he had brought with him, but spent the rest of the time on the floor with his cousin. Abigail, today having been her day off, had returned from a day with her girl friends at around 3:30. She happily held Gus and chatted to Juliet as she got the kids' stuff together.

"Don't forget what I said," Logan called to Shawn as they headed out the door. He put his fingers to his eyes, then back at Shawn, "I'm watching you."

Shawn sighed and relaxed, happy to have him gone. He'd made $70 from his ten hours of work. Not a bad amount, but not nearly enough for spending a day with Logan. He relaxed next to his wife, happy to be free. He turned to her and spoke the one thing that he needed to make perfectly clear, "I am never watching that boy again."


End file.
